Help if you're homeless, or at risk of losing your home

If you are homeless within the next 7 days

If you are homeless within the next 7 days, or have nowhere to sleep tonight:

come to Worthing Town Hall between 9am and 4pm, Monday to Friday to talk to a Housing Officer and see what help you can get
you can also call the council using the contact details at the bottom of this page
if it is out of hours, use the emergency number

Bring ID and relevant documentation with you if you are able to. If you are escaping a violent situation then just come to Worthing Town Hall.

We will ask you to provide information on your current situation and talk to you about the options available for support.

Please be aware that you may have to wait on the day to be seen.

If you are at risk of losing your home

If you are worried you may lose your home, but are not currently homeless or at risk of homelessness within the next 7 days, contact us as quickly as possible to see how we can help. To tell us about your situation you can complete the Housing Advice form (below).

Support for a range of issues

You can get advice, help and support to keep your current housing, or help to find new accommodation to try to prevent you from becoming homeless.

We can help with a range of issues, including:

receiving notice to leave your accommodation
being asked to leave by family or friends
can't pay the rent or mortgage, or debt worries
changes in your financial situation (eg you've lost your job)
violence in the home (or risk of this)
relationship breakdown or ending
tenancy problems
your accommodation is no longer suitable due to health concerns for you or a member of your household
homelessness due to an emergency such as a fire or flood
disrepair issues in your property
issues involving a neighbour or noise levels

The help you'll get will depend on your circumstances, see:

Homeless help from the council - on the Shelter website

Temporary accommodation

The council looks at the needs of people and offers help according to their circumstances and eligibility. We may be able to provide short term housing to you if you are in an immediate housing crisis.

Find out more about temporary accommodation

How to get the help you need

Complete a Housing Advice form to tell us about your situation so we can give you the right help and advice.

The form asks for the following information:

your email address - if you don't have one there is advice on the form about how to set one up
your National Insurance number. If you do not know it see:
- Find your National Insurance number - on the GOV.UK website
your address history for the past six years
medical history for you and anyone living with you
details about your finances, and those of anyone living with you, (eg wages, benefits, tax credit and benefit awards, savings, expenditure

You will be asked for the following documents:

ID for you and anyone living with you, (eg passport, birth certificate, driving licence
proof of address (eg utility bill, tenancy agreement, notice from your landlord)
letters or medical reports from anyone who has been involved with either your health care, or for anyone living with you
evidence of income for you and anyone living with you (eg payslips, benefits letter, tax credit and benefit award letter, pension statement, bank statements, P60)

If you are unable to upload them, you can hand them in at Worthing Town Hall.

Complete a Housing Advice form

You can complete your form in stages and save it so you can come back to finish it later. This option is available after you have completed the first four sections, so we have your security information and can identify you when you're ready to log in again.

You have 10 days to complete and submit your form, after which you will need to start a new form. Please note that your session will expire after 15 minutes of inactivity.

Please provide us with as much detail as you can so we can give you the best advice for your situation and direct you to the right services.

You should hear back from us within 7 working days (less depending on your circumstances).

Complete a new Housing Advice form - on the Sussex Home Move website

Finish a Housing Advice form you have already started - on the Sussex Home Move website

If you are unable to complete the online form, please contact the Housing Needs team on 01903 221063 to discuss your circumstances, or email using the address at the bottom of this page.